CELEBRATING A COMEBACK — Laker seniors (left to right) Destinee Durant, Kenya DuBrule and Jackie Laurent following the Lakers' 5-4 win over second-ranked Wells in eight innings.

Win and you are in.

The Lake Region varsity softball team took care of their own business, beating York 9-3 Saturday and upsetting second-ranked Wells on Senior Day Tuesday to nail down the Number 7 seed in the upcoming Class B West tournament.

Now, the Lakers (9-7) and Fryeburg Academy (7-9) will face a rematch. The Raiders dropped to the Number 10 spot Thursday when Leavitt upset highly-ranked Winslow 6-2, pushing the Hornets up to the 8^th spot. That moved Poland down to Number 9. So, the Lakers and Raiders will meet in the prelim round this Tuesday, June 10, with a likely start time of 3:30 p.m. The winner moves on to face second-seeded Lincoln Academy (14-2).

Fryeburg had a chance to hold onto a home playoff game, but dropped their final three contests, including an 8-4 loss to Poland and a 9-8 decision to Sacopee Valley.

At Poland, Kylie Martin and Kolby Woods combined for a four-hitter as the Knights built a 5-0 lead after three innings. The Raiders charged back with three runs in the fourth, but Poland sealed the deal with three more runs in the sixth as they outhit FA 6-4. Both squads made three errors.

FA was led by Kristen Chipman, who doubled and collected three hits.

Against Sacopee, the Raiders again fell behind big, early, trailing the Hawks at home 8-0 headed into the home half of the second. FA erupted for seven runs and then tied the game in the third.

With both teams settling in, the Hawks plated the game winner in the sixth.

FA outslugged the Hawks 9-7 as Chipman, Makayla Cooper, Jeannette White and Karylann Walker (3) were repeated hitters, however the Raiders committed five errors.

Meanwhile, Lake Region shocked second-ranked Wells 5-4 in eight innings on Senior Day.

“The victory put an exclamation point on an incredible turnaround by this group of girls. They went from a winless team a year ago to a team that won nine games, beating three top-seeded teams. Our coaching staff could not be prouder of what these girls accomplished,” Coach Wayne Rivet said. “We’ve came a long way from the 12-0 loss on opening day to Wells. We showed that when we play our best, we can be competitive against any team in our league.”

The Lakers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Ashley Clark singled, and courtesy runner Ashley Garrett came around to score on Allison Morse’s double to the left-center gap.

Wells tied the game in the second as Jordan Agger was hit by a pitch, Meghan Young doubled and Christina LeBlanc singled.

Clark escaped further trouble by inducing a fly ball out, a ground ball to third baseman Abby Scott-Mitchell, whose quick release kept the runner at third base and a roller back to the mound for the final out.

Both teams stranded runners in scoring position in the middle frames. Wells plated two runs in the fifth as Steph Woods singled, followed by back-to-back doubles by Lauren Bame and Sophie Lamb. Clark ended the threat by getting two ground ball outs.

The Warriors tacked on what appeared to be an insurance run in the sixth as Sara Ring reached on an error, moved up on another miscue and later scored on an infield out.

After being retired in order in the sixth, the Lakers rallied in the seventh to tie the game. Casey Heath helped trigger the comeback with a towering shot to deep left for a double. The hit sparked the LR offense as Jackie Laurent, who lined a blistering drive to second in the fifth, singled with two out and Destinee Durant singled on a 1-2 pitch to plate the tying run.

Although the Lakers stranded the game-winning run in the seventh, momentum was certainly on their side. After Wells went quietly in the eighth, the Lakers went right back to work. With one out, Samantha Marucci singled and Scott-Mitchell worked a walk (coming back from a 1-2 count). Both runners moved up on a ball in the dirt. On a 3-2 pitch, Heath hit a roller up, which the Warriors were unable to handle resulting in a late, high throw to the plate as Marucci slid safely across the plate, igniting a wild LR celebration.

“I’ll remember this game for a long time,” said Marucci, a team captain. “I probably won’t sleep tonight. It was amazing. I never experienced something like that in my favorite sport. Definitely an amazing feeling.”

For the Lakers, Morse went 3-for-4, while Clark and Marucci each had two hits as the Lakers touched up Wells’ hurler Bame for 12 hits.

Clark effectively used her changeup to keep the Warriors off balance, limiting the high-powered offense to just six hits.

“She really had good movement on the changeup all day,” Coach Rivet said. “When she needed to make a big pitch, Ashley really came through and kept us in the game.”

On Saturday, Abby Scott-Mitchell belted a double with the bases loaded, scoring three to spark a six-run fourth inning, leading the Lakers to a 9-3 victory over York.

The Lakers jumped ahead 2-0 in the second as Allison Morse doubled, Jackie Laurent reached on an error and Destinee Durant delivered a RBI single.

LR made it 3-0 in the third as Scott-Mitchell singled and later scored.

York plated a run in the fourth on a lead-off double by Kendall Carr and a RBI single by Steph Rundlett. The Cats stranded runners in scoring position as Clark induced a ground ball out and struck out two.

Up 9-1, the Lakers surrendered a pair of runs in the sixth on three hits.

Clark scattered nine hits, struck out six and did not issue a walk.

For the Lakers, Scott-Mitchell led the seven-hit attack with a 3-for-4 game. Morse chipped in two hits, while Brittany Perreault and Samantha Marucci each had one.